40hz

I don't think that's very fair. I think most brands get a kicking at times on this forum. I love Warwicks - they get slated fairly often (often with merit), Fender get slagged off as much they're praised, my own dear Modulus and graphite basses get slagged off. But tbh, it doesn't upset me personally, because that is somebody else's takeaway from their experience and equally as valid as my adoration (within reason). I really wouldn't take it so personally. You can love a brand and still see it's faults. And as far as I can see, people are mostly taking umbrage (and quite rightly) with the utterly farcical pricing.

Sorry Mr McFly. I actually really love that finish 🙈🙈. Then again I would. This is my number one. . . . Brighter and bolder the better!! 😂

This topic has really made me think . . . with the ever increasing prices for USA made, original instruments, that has really started to accelerate wildly in the past few years with no signs of slowing down. . . . . Will there come a point where the import models become THE actual model due to the real thing being way out of reach for 99% of people? e.g - will there be a point where the Sterling by Musicman models actually become the full fat Stingrays, with the name change on the headstock?

As someone alluded to earlier, this sort of pricing (not even taking into account how much this will invariably rise again in a year or two) surely means the end of Musicman Basses as a viable entity in this country? I can't think of anyone outside of the tiny group of die-hards, who would pay this money for one. Luckily the the 2nd hand market is saturated enough to make sure people can pick them up with ease, at sensible pricing.

Having looked a bit further into it, looks these GR Aero cabs just have a carbon wrap as opposed to full carbon structure. Bit naughty on the marketing side isn't it?

Absolutely right. Madness if you think about it really.

Do let us know what you think of them, I've had my beady eye on them for a while now . . . . but there is nothing out there on them really. Strange given the fact they might just be the lightest cabs on the planet.

@DiMarco Lovely rig!! I've been long thinking about buying two of those TE cabs also for use with my TC BH550. How loud/low can they really get? Is there much punch to the set up? What about high end (these are tweeterless as I understand?)

I agree on a lot of this. My personal point is, Trace were never allowed to develop in the same vein as so many other brands, and innovate and move with the times and refine things and change. Especially given the Class D, small amp, revolution of the past 15 years or so. They were just laid by the wayside when Peavey's initial attempt back in 2005/6 at relaunching the brand failed, IMO due to pretty much changing the faceplates on the same older amps and changing nothing, at a time when small, lightweight micro amps started to go stratospheric and the bass amp game changed massively. It took 14 years for new products to arrive. I like the cabs to be fair. But the amps are useless to somebody like me and I hazard a guess, a fair few others.

These are awesome! Thanks for sharing!

Outside of valve amps, does anyone want anything from that era at all? I don't think that's specific to Trace. I didn't say they were equal in status to Ampeg amps or SVTs. Simply that you can't deride an amp from being from a certain era.

I have to confess, I never, ever used to believe this or buy into it when seeing it discussed on here. Recently however, my beliefs have been shook to the core! Having purchased a Warwick Streamer LX4 from 2004 and absolutely being bowled away by it, it got me to thinking just how different it is to my 2009 Streamer LX and Stage One that I owned. The bass is much more alive, dynamic, smoother sounding, punchier with a really singing musical top-end. Compared to the 2009 which was a very twangy, bright sounding instrument, if a bit light on the bass. My Stage One which was pure bark and brittleness and sounded a little unrefined in a live setting unless you really dialled back the treble. And again, the 3 Fleas I've owned. Some very noticeable differences ; Flea 1 (a 2004 model in black) sounded like an electronic synthesizer, with a real, nasal 'electronic' growl and edge to the notes. Which I absolutely loved. Flea 2 (a 97, silver flake) didn't have a nasty edge to it and was super clean, crystalline and full ranged, a totally different beastie. Flea 3 (2004 in blue flake) is hugely nastier and funkier with more growl and grit and balls than the other two. A whole different ball park. With my (not so) stunning revelation, has anyone else had similar experiences with the same models?

Haven't we got to a point where country of manufacturer is borderline irrelevant? The advent of super advanced CNC machining means quality will be uniformly good across the board from most reputable manufacturers. The origin of manufacture may have meant something 15-20 years ago and beyond, but now? . . . I don't think so. Any issues nowadays tend to stem from time taken to finish and set up, and that's not something that is location specific, but rather £££ specific.

That's not strictly true. The valve stuff came very late in the day in his Jamiroquai tenure. He was using standard AH series heads live and in the studio all the way up to 96ish. I don't agree with it being an brand of a specific decade. If anything I'd say Trace weren't just 80's amps, but 90s too. People are still using them, much in the same way people still use SVTs. Do we call people who use SVTs 'stuck in the 70s' or even as a more modern example, do we call people who use Markbass, stuck in the 00's? A good amp is a good amp regardless of when it came out. I use a Mesa Boogie M-Pulse 600 from 2006/7 and it makes absolute mincemeat of anything I've owned including a multitude of 'modern' amps. My point is, Trace are extremely famous. Known the world over to bass players irrespective of your age. They pretty much owned the bass market for 20 years and then were mothballed. They were THE amp. Peavey allowed it to stagnate and almost die out to terrible product management and lack of interest in developing the brand, and, IMO they're still not doing it right. Their current offerings I would argue have limited appeal.

I wasn't referring to Zenders studio tone. More his live rig. I know studio tones are rarely anything to do with the amp. I also don't think it's fair to denigrate players and sounds you personally may not like. I happen to think Kim Deal is a wonderful player and had a great live tone myself.

Quite right. Trace Elliot to me (a 34 year old) is Stuart Zender and Kim Deal.

I second this. It's truly embarassing.

When I started playing back in 2003, standard Stingrays were £899 at GAK for the standard and natural finish. It's laser printed on my mind because I remember trying and failing all summer to save for one!! Diego Blue Sabre though! WOOF! always been on the lookout for that specific bass as IMO, it's the most beautiful looking bass EBMM have ever made!

Aren't the examples you provided of the special editions that would have cost a fair bit more than a bog standard Stingray at the time?

Quite right you are. I just don't like 5ers. Plus it makes the bass look less sleek and svelte. Imo of course.

That's the one! If I just buy a secondhand Streamer Stage 2 and have the work done myself, you'd be talking around £3500 all in. This is the plan!

I love Spector so much but they are seriously missing a trick by not offering the Euro series in a J/J config. A Jazz bass on steroids with the EMG/Hazlab/Tonepump flavour is something I could very much get on board with. In White with Black hardware too 😍😍. Sadly the USA models and custom shop are way, waaaay out my price range.

Warwick and Musicman are my favourite bass brands, which is frustrating. I enquired with Warwick Custom shop about having a Stuart Zender Iroquai Streamer made. Was quoted £10,000. Absolute and utter insanity (you might even say Virtual Insanity). I quietly closed that email.

FFS. This bloody autocorrect! very much edited now 😂